zorbing

Well, we didn’t wake up at 7 am as planned…but we just barely made the 10 am check-out time, if you don’t count breakfast. Another hostel guest made a wonderful lemon-sugar thing, sort of cross between a pancake and a crepe, and kindly shared one with us while we were making our beans, eggs & toast creation.

After a hearty breakfast (perhaps not the best idea?) we took off in the Pulsar for the Agrodome. The Agrodome is home to a variety of examples of Kiwi tourism creativity – in addition to the ever-present bungy, there’s Zorbing – rolling down a hill inside a giant inflatable ball, the Hydro-Jet - a super-fast jet boat that goes as close to the falls as possible, a free-fall simulator, and the ‘Swoop’ – three people are zipped into a sleeping bag on a stretchy cord and dropped from a crane.

We opted for Zorbing, a very gentle introduction to adrenaline sports. Sabrina, Lucy and I went hydro-Zorbing together…after changing into quick-dry clothing, we got a ride up the mountain in the back of the official Zorb bus – an adventure in itself.



Here’s how Zorbing works: There’s a giant inflatable ball with a hole in it. If you choose hydro-zorbing, the attendant fills the ball with a few inches of water, hot in winter and cold in summer. You dive through the hole head first to get in, Then the attendant zips up the hole in the ball, and you push on the ball to get started rolling. Then you roll down the hill, fast. It’s a lot of fun – the water lets you slip around a little bit, and you get completely soaked.